The Lib Dems have selected Jane Brophy as their candidate in the by-election in Oldham West and Royton, caused by the death of Michael Meacher MP. Polling day will be 3rd December.

Although Meacher held the seat in May with a majority of nearly 15,000, the Liberal Democrats ran the council until 2011. Elections in Oldham tend to be Labour/Lib Dem battles and are often close, so we will be fighting hard in the by-election.

Jane is an experienced campaigner and has been a councillor for over 15 years. She works for the NHS in Greater Manchester.

Jane says:

The people of Oldham West and Royton need someone to stand up for them and the Liberal Democrats are the only party that will do that. Labour had the chance to oppose tax credit cuts and failed to do it.

The Tory tax credit cuts will affect 8,000 families in this area alone and it was only the Liberal Democrats who stood up for people by trying to stop these cuts completely in Parliament.

When it came to a crunch vote in the House of Lords, Labour just voted to delay cuts to child tax credits and UKIP’s one MP voted in favour, while the Conservatives just cheered them on. We deserve better than that.

Michael Meacher was a well-respected MP and it would be an honour to succeed him representing local people in Parliament.

On issues like Tax credits and like the Conservatives plan to wipe out council homes with its Housing Bill the message is clear: If you want a real opposition to this Conservative government only a Lib Dem MP can deliver that.

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I’ve just been out in Huntly for the council By-election on Thursday. I don’t know about Oldham West but the LibDems are in major trouble in a traditional LibDem area North of the border. An area that once provided MP’s and MSP’s for the party will send a clear message on Thursday in my opinion.

You seem to have a strong candidate and the LibDems – except for 2015 – normally get around 20% of the vote, so that is a good starting point. However, although I think Labour will lose – Corbyn is a disaster – this seat is made for UKIP and I think they will win easily. To win the LibDems will have to fight like their lives depend on the result and I don’t think they are up to it yet. However, a good second would remind the voters you are still around and with the state Labour is in that would help you.

“Elections in Oldham tend to be Labour/Lib Dem battles and are often close, so we will be fighting hard in the by-election”

Strange you don’t seem to mention that in the GE in May the Lib Dems were 4th with a stunning 3.7% of the vote. I eagerly await the first Orwellian “It’s Neck and Neck” leaflet and “winning Here” posters!

Our best result was 20% in 2005 and we’ve never been higher than third from 1997. A repeat of that is a realistic ambition, but Labour are vulnerable on tax credits and abstaining on welfare cuts. A hard campaign and a weak Labour candidate could change things. Jane is an experienced campaigner and very good choice.

We got 4% in May, if we could double that it would be a great result.This will be a very dull Byelection with a very low turnout. The Media will be trying to big up UKIP but their near-win next door was at the height of their sucsess, since then they have lost votes & members. Once its clear that Labour will win comfortably the London Media will lose interest & so will many voters.
I am assuming their will be no “Independent Labour” style candidate.

The BAME population in the seat is 30%. We got 3.7% in the general election. The need to win over a greater share of this, predominately Muslim with a large Bangladeshi community, is great. We will need to work on this as a priority.

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